I had heard about the snowstorm debacle. It sounded like a
truly unfortunate incident. Thank you for responding.

On 4/02/09, riteacher wrote:
> On 4/01/09, Karen M. wrote:
>> He's just been appointed our next superintendent. What
>> can you tell me about him? Thanks.
>
> I am not from Providence but I am in Rhode Island. I do know
> that the major reason he left was that the school committee
> was upset with children stuck for hours on a school bus in a
> snowstorm. Now some of the blame could be laid at his feet
> for this as in retrospect he should have cancelled school for
> the day. However, other superintendents did not cancel
> either. Evans followed the procedure that had worked in
> Providence for years. However, this time events combined to
> form the perfect storm that bottlenecked the city for hours.
> Buses picked up some children and got stuck in traffic and
> the bus company had no idea where they were. The bus company
> did not supply the drivers with any means to reach the depot
> and if the bus driver did not have a cell there was no way to
> contact the depot or for the depot to contact them. Other
> buses never showed up at the schools and parents stuck in the
> traffic took hours to get there to pick up their child. The
> city gridlocked as with accidents at major intersections the
> plows could not get through, people and cars got stuck, and
> traffic backed up all over.
> It wasn't a large storm as the roads were clear and school
> started on time the next day, but it caused huge problems.
> The storm led to Evans not seeking to renew his contract and
> the states emergency management officer resigning.
>
> Most of this was not, in my opinion, Evans fault. He relied
> on the judgement of those who have weathered many storms in
> the city and this time they were wrong.
>
> Would he have stayed and been renewed if the snowstorm had
> not occured? My answer is probably yes. The storm and its
> aftermath just brought out everyone and anyone who had a
> grievance and caused Evans to not seek to renew his contract.
>
> The new Providence superintent cancels fast. He does not want
> a repeat performance.
>
>
>
>

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